Flint, Mich. – The Flint Firebirds are home for a pair of games this weekend beginning Saturday night, Oct. 21, in the third-annual “Face-Off Against Breast Cancer” game. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Dort Federal Event Center against the Peterborough Petes before the Firebirds host the Windsor Spitfires Sunday at 4 p.m.

After starting the season perfect on home-ice with a 3-0 record, the Firebirds fell in the most recent contest this past Sunday against the Kitchener Rangers. Peterborough is coming off a win on Thursday night, 5-1 over the Windsor Spitfires at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

This will be the second and final meeting between Flint and Peterborough this regular season. Flint is 0-1-0-0 against the Petes after dropping a 3-1 decision in Peterborough on Oct. 5th. Goaltender Garrett Forrest was the third star of the game after stopping 47 of 50 shots. The Firebirds set a team record for shots on the road with 47 surpassing the previous mark of 43. Jake Durham scored the only goal for Flint. Last season Flint was 1-1 against Peterborough, winning at home 4-3 in a shoot-out. Overall the Firebirds have a 1-4-0-0 record against the Petes.

Flint is 9th out of 20 OHL teams on the power-play, scoring at 18.2%. The Firebirds have scored eight goals with the man-advantage which includes at least one power-play goal in six of their nine games this season. Flint is 13th on the penalty-kill, operating at 80.9% when shorthanded. The Petes are currently 7th in the OHL with the man-advantage at 21.0% and are 9th overall on the penalty-kill at 85.4%.

Promotions:
For the third-straight year, the Firebirds are teaming up with the McLaren Flint Foundation to raise money to help in the fight against breast cancer. The Firebirds are asking all fans to wear pink to the game. Fans can bid on the game worn Flint Firebirds’ player jerseys in a live auction that will take place immediately following the game. All proceeds will be donated to the McLaren Flint Foundation.

Single game tickets for the Flint Firebirds 2017-18 season are $12 for Bronze, $16 for Silver, $20 for Gold and $26 for VIP seating. All seats are reserved / assigned seating. Fans can purchase tickets at the Dort Federal Event Center Box Office and online at ticketmaster.com. For ticket information, flex tickets or group outings, contact Dominic Gutierrez at (810) 701-8536 or domg@flintfirebirds.com. To book a private suite, please contact Karla Turner at (810) 744-0580 ext. 213 or email karla@flintfirebirds.com.

Firebirds Facts:
Flint’s rookie goaltender Luke Cavallin and forward Ethan Keppen were selected to represent Hockey Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Nov. 5-11 in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C. A total of 23 OHL players were selected by Hockey Canada which consists of three teams (Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red and Team Canada White) in the annual tournament that features the best under-17 players in the country when they compete against the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States in their quest for a gold medal.

The Firebirds completed a trade on Monday with the Kitchener Rangers. In the trade, the Firebirds acquired four draft picks consisting of Kitchener’s second-round pick in the 2019 OHL Draft, Sault Ste. Marie’s second-round pick in the 2020 OHL Draft, Kitchener’s fifth-round pick in the 2020 OHL Draft and Kitchener’s third-round pick in the 2021 OHL Draft. In exchange, the Rangers received Firebirds’ overage right-winger Kole Sherwood.

Players to Watch

Flint Firebirds (5-3-1-0, 6th Western Conference):The Firebirds have three players with double digits in points. Maurizio Colella leads the Firebirds with 12 points (6G, 6A). Ryan Moore is second on the Firebirds’ roster with 11 points (3G, 8A) . Ty Dellandrea has 10 points and Nick Caamano along with Jake Durham are on the cusp with 9 points each.

Colella has been one of the Firebird’s hottest point producers, riding a current five game (6-2-8) point-streak. Colella leads the team in goals with six and has scored a point in all but two of nine games this season. In the Firebird’s last game against Kitchener on Sunday afternoon, he scored a pair of goals for the second time this season.

Like Colella, Ryan Moore, the team’s leading scorer last year, has a five game (3-7-10) point-streak of his own. Moore added to his current streak with a two-point effort that included a goal against Kitchener last Sunday.

Ty Dellandrea has scored points in his last three games (1-3-4) and has recorded a point in seven of his nine games this season. Dellandrea is the Firebirds’ third leading scorer with 10 points including five goals.

Firebirds goaltender Luke Cavallin got his first start at home in the Sunday tilt against the Kitchener Rangers. Cavallin along with teammate Ethan Keppen were two of 23 OHL players selected to play at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Nov. 5-11 in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.

Garrett Forrest is statistically the 10h best goaltender in the OHL with a 2.90 goals against average (GAA) and a .917 save percentage (SAV%).

NHL: The Firebirds have three players that have been drafted by NHL teams consisting of Nick Caamano (Dallas Stars), Fedor Gordeev (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Nicholas Mattinen (Toronto Maple Leafs). Additionally, Dennis Busby, Ty Dellandrea, Hunter Holmes, Ryan Littlejohn and Jack Wismer are five first time eligible players to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft in June 2018.

Peterborough Petes (8-2-0-1, 1st Eastern Conference):Adam Timleck leads the Petes in goals with six while Logan DeNoble, Pavel Gogolev are tied for second with five goals a piece. The trio has played in 11 games each this season.

Jonathan Ang (Florida Panthers) has produced the most points for Peterborough against the Firebirds over the past three seasons with five goals and nine points in five games which included a hat-trick in Flint on Nov. 11. 2016. Ang, who was a fourth-round (94th overall) pick by the Florida Panthers and leads the Petes in assists (9) and points (13) this season after 11 games.

Chris Paquette (Tampa Bay Lightning) scored his first OHL hat trick in the Petes’ most recent game Thursday in Windsor.

Rookie forward Nick Robertson is scoring at almost a point-per-game with nine points (3-6-9) in 11 games. The Petes drafted the Northville, Michigan native in the first round (16h overall) in the 2017 OHL Priority Draft.

Between the pipes, Dylan Wells (Edmonton Oilers) has been busy appearing in nine of the Petes 11 games. He is the sixth best goaltender in the OHL statistically with a 2.64 goals against average (GAA) and a .925 save percentage (SAV%).

The Petes have produced a record number of National Hockey League players, including Hall of Famers Steve Yzerman, Bob Gainey, Larry Murphy, Scotty Bowman, Wayne Gretzky and Roger Neilson. Peterborough has graduated the most players to the NHL of all current OHL teams with a total of 248.

Broadcast Coverage:Saturday evening’s contest against the Peterborough Petes can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com or by downloading the US 103 app here. Pregame coverage with Dominic Hennig will begin 30 minutes prior to puck drop at 6:30 p.m. Additionally, the game will be televised live throughout the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 466 for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. Fans can also watch the game live online at www.ohllive.com or on the OHL Live app.

Next Home Game:
The Firebirds are home this Sunday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. against the defending CHL Memorial Cup Champions, Windsor Spitfires. Fans can take advantage of the “Firebirds Family 4 Pack.” Sponsored by Dort Federal Credit Union for every Sunday home game, the package features 4 Silver Level reserved tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas, 2 game programs and 2 game pucks, a value of $120 for $76. Fans are encouraged to purchase this package in advance by visiting the Box Office or by contacting Dominic Gutierrez at (810) 701-8536 or domg@flintfirebirds.com.

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